Blood scare / inspection

[BlastingFonda]

So I had a bit of a fright several days ago when I saw a good amount of blood all over several of my 2 year old chin Gandalf's shelves, and immediately took steps to take him to the vet. However, he appeared in great spirits, was energetic, happily eating, peeing & pooping normally, and showed no signs that any of his paws / feet were tender or hurting him.

So now I'm starting to suspect that he cut one of his back feet as he had chewed up a piece of pine from an old ladder set and produced potentially sharp bits of wood that he could have stepped on or stuck in his foot in the form of a sliver, and this most likely was the cause for the blood. I've completely removed the pine ladder segment and all pine slivers from the cage. (Whoever tells you pine is perfectly safe for chins never mentions that they could seriously hurt themselves once pine is chewed up...!) And as I've seen others point out on here in similar threads, feet can become dry / cracked and this can also produce a fair amount of blood.

I want to fully inspect his back feet - his front paws are great and show no signs of blood or injury - to make sure the wound has healed, there is no infection, etc. He is and has always been difficult to catch / hold. I will attempt using a towel to wrap him in, but I know he's going to freak out. Any other suggestions on how to ease him into it? I don't want him to hurt himself or leap out of my hands onto the floor while I attempt to inspect him. Any other ways to "trick" a chin into letting you inspect his back feet outside of flipping him on his back or similar?

 

[ChocolatPocky]

You're just gonna have to grab him and turn him over in a small enclosed play space on the floor... I've had a chin for about 2 months now and was in the same boat - didn't wanna catch/hold him because he didn't seem to like it at all! Of course, once I HAD to pick him up (force feeding after removing molar spurs), it forced me to practice this until I could get the hang of it. I've read about different ways of holding chins etc, but I don't do the tail hold, he hates that! So I've figured out a way that works for both of us and I try to be extra careful about his ribcage. When I get a hold of him I am very careful never to squeeze to prevent escape. I will lock my hands into a sort of cage that he can't escape out of if that's a way to describe it. Oh, and always remain calm!

Had to put some olive oil on his feet the other day bc they were getting dry. He kicked and fussed but I got it done. The towel might make things more messy unless you're good at wrapping the chin, I kinda got the hang of burrito feeding my chin but I don't think I ever wrapped the towel perfectly haha

 

[Spoof]

That amount of blood is normal when they injure a foot pad, it will look like a straight up murder scene if they get a finger. You can follow the steps above or just grab him and flip him over. The trick is to hold until they quit struggling, once they relax you can release your grip. This teaches them to relax when they are picked up. It does take time, and I recommend to people (who find this thread later) to start working with your chinchilla now vs. waiting until you find an injury. You should be able to inspect teeth, ears, paws and belly with minimal fighting. I roll them over onto their backs in my lap and do this frequently. It isn't easy for some, I've got screamers, sprayers and biters but they know once they are caught the gig is up.